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Former basketball star Dennis Rodman has become a personal friend of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. (Associated Press)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has a baby daughter, seemingly guaranteeing the future of a dynasty that has ruled the isolated and impoverished state for three generations, according to U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman who met Kim last week.

Kim's wife Ri Sol had appeared to be pregnant in pictures issued last year by North Korea's state news agency, although no confirmation was available. She then disappeared from public view, returning last October.

Rodman, who has visited North Korea twice this year and describes Kim as his "friend," told Britain's Guardian newspaper that he had held the baby.